Flat Tire Decor’s Recycled Rubber Mini Trug

I have recently been receiving lots of packages (I love packages). My little people don’t love it so much, they are used to the heady days of November and December when all the packages are presents for them. But now that spring has arrived it’s mostly for me (Yea!)….books, products, seeds, mail order plants, etc, etc. Some I bought, some have been sent free for review – like the Flat Tire Decor Basket that came last week for me to try out. That’s it below with the potato starts (‘Kennebecks’ and ‘Yukon Golds’) that we planted on Easter (As another ‘try out’, we planted them in the potato bags that I paid for with my own money at Agway – we will let you know what we think of those later in the season)

But before I get into my review, I want to reassure you that when I’m given something – whether it’s a book or a plant or a recycled rubber tire tub – I’m upfront about my experience with that product (or sometimes, namely with books, I follow my mother’s advice and don’t say anything at all –because I truly haven’t the heart to poorly review another writers work). Anyway, I make this clear to people who send me stuff and if they don’t like it, they can choose not to send it (but so far that hasn’t happened).

* The shape. I got the one with the handles and the handles are quite large in scale to the actual bucket part. They almost make it feel like you could use it as a purse. (Really — with the right outfit it could be perfect). It’s different and has a bit of style.

* The material. Its a rubber tire, recycled. It’s black which kinda goes with every thing, it’s worn, which gives it an earthy charm and it mere existence means that at least one part of an old tire was prevented from going into a landfill, which is good by me. And, it doesn’t feel dirty (they must make extra efforts to clean off the road gunk).

* It’s constructed by a company called Curative Industrial Services. Curative offers training and work experience to people with disabilities. The aim is to build greater skills, self esteem, and quality of life for people with limiting conditions.

And on the flip side…..

* It does smell strongly like a tire — I suspect this will wear off in time, and for me it’s not a big deal (in fact I kinda like it), but if you can’t stand the smell of a Sears Auto Store, you won’t like this.

* While I like this pot, I am not sure exactly what I am going to do with it yet. If it were smaller I might put it on my kitchen sink to hold soaps, pot scrapers and nails scrubbers and if it were bigger, I would plant something in it (this seems too small for my delinquent plant water-er ways…it’s black and smallish by my tastes, around here, that is a surefire recipe for scorching something quickly). For now, we are using it to carry stuff around, kinda like a mini (kids sized?) trug (or a garden purse?), it carried potatoes for planting out to the veg garden, and on the way back it picked up eggs from the chicken house.

I think it will continue to come in handy. Thumbs up for that.

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rochelle greayer

Hi, I'm Rochelle and for 18 years I have worked as a landscape designer, author/writer, and design teacher.
I've designed residential and hospitality (for hotels, restaurants, and spas) gardens across the USA and in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. After many years of teaching garden design topics in person, I launched the PITH + VIGOR Boot Camp series in early 2018.
Through my blog, social media, and online courses (Garden Design Bootcamp and Planting Design Boot Camp) I aim to help homeowners learn how to confidently design and create home gardens that reflect their own personal and unique style.

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2 Comments

I haven’t posted my review, yet, but I found a good use for the same pot from Flat Tire Decor to as a decorative pot cover for houseplants indoors. I placed some of my blooming amaryllis bulbs in it and some foliage plants this past winter. Honestly, I feel like it is “too nice” to use outside but after it gets some wear and tear I’ll probably go ahead and plant something for it outside.

Great review! I have a couple of these pots myself (not the same style) and I like them. I didn’t notice the strong tire smell with mine… but I use them to hold plants outside. I like the style of yours with the handles, it looks like a good work basket.